Monk avoids nakedness in any shape or form and feels guilty for pursuing relationships after his wife passes away. This avoidance and guilt often gets in the way of his everyday life, which is something I, and many others with OCD, can identify with. While having a TV character to relate to did not even come close to curing my symptoms, it provided some hope and relief to see a character with my illness portrayed in a positive light.
A couple years ago, I did have the incredible privilege of meeting Tony Shalhoub at a benefit in a nearby town. Before meeting him, I practiced what I was going to say. I ran through the words over and over again in my head. I was so nervous. What if he thought OCD was all a big joke? When Tony Shalhoub walked over to my husband and I, I quickly poured out the words.
I told him how much I appreciated the show because it made me feel less alone, and it opened a door for me to talk about my illness with my mom, which helped her understand what I was going through. I said I liked that the show displayed how serious OCD is, while still maintaining a sense of joy and hope. Then I waited. It was really bad in high school, but fortunately in college I started Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, which has been extremely helpful in managing my mental health.
I went from obsessively avoiding triggers and repeating phrases in my mind to being able to sit with my discomfort. Monk spends eight seasons in talk therapy, where Dr. Kroger, I am begging you to expose Monk to his fears and teach him coping skills. I know the reason they put Monk in talk therapy was to give a good framing device to the theme and mystery of the episode. You are commenting using your WordPress.
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Twitter Facebook Instagram. By: Jacob Silverman. Lots of them. In addition to solving crimes, Monk spends his time dealing with uncontrollable habits, such as obsessively cleaning his apartment or using sanitized wipes after shaking someone's hand. He's also afraid of practically everything, but particularly heights, large groups, germs and all manner of potential dangers. Monk manages to overcome his obsessive habits -- sometimes even using them to his advantage -- and catch criminals.
But Monk isn't just a quirky character. He has obsessive-compulsive disorder OCD. Shalhoub has said that he can identify with his character's obsessive traits, as can, perhaps, many viewers [source: WebMD ].
To portray Monk, Shalhoub has said that he allows every normally checked impulse that a healthy person might have -- say, the desire to move an object that's out of place or take care of the lint on a stranger's shoulder -- to be acted out [source: New York Times].
Consequently, Adrian Monk is a whirlwind of uncontrollable habits and tics, such as skipping over cracks in the sidewalk.
But unlike many OCD sufferers, Monk is relatively functional, routinely solving crimes and nabbing criminals. So it may be that Monk's lovable nature and the humor he brings to his foibles have contributed to the show's success and brought attention to a disorder that afflicts millions of people. One of the show's virtues is that it uses Monk's OCD in a light, humorous way and that his OCD-caused fastidiousness often helps him to solve crimes. The show's tagline is "Obsessive.
The show's Web site also presents information about OCD. However, the show's depiction of OCD may be misleading because for many patients, obsessive-compulsive disorder is debilitating, preventing them from living ordinary lives. In this article, we'll take a look at OCD, its symptoms, its possible causes, how it's diagnosed and how it may be treated. We'll also take a look at what distinguishes someone who happens to be perfectionistic or obsessive from someone who has full-blown OCD.
An estimated 5 to 7 million people in the United States have obsessive-compulsive disorder [source: New York Times]. The actual number may be even higher, representing 2 to 3 percent of the country's population [source: NIH ]. No matter the number, OCD is a serious anxiety disorder, appearing equally as often in men and women though it often appears earlier in men. The components of OCD may be divided into two main categories: obsessions and compulsions. Obsessive thoughts produce a compulsive response in the form of frequently performed actions or rituals.
People with OCD perform rituals, such as repeatedly washing their hands, as a way of suppressing or responding to these obsessive thoughts. Unfortunately, the obsessive thought -- in this case, that one's hands are dirty -- is nearly impossible to get rid of, despite being not being grounded in reality.
Some rituals involve physical action while others only occur in the mind, such as counting stairs or the number of words a person says. A person with OCD feels surrounded by disorder and the unknown, and rituals allow him or her to feel more in control. Many people with the disorder have a "magic number" that they apply to different actions, whether it's touching an object or chewing food a certain number of times.
Besides repeated hand washing, common rituals include touching door knobs and other objects, counting, locking and unlocking doors, and arranging items in a symmetrical or orderly manner. Some people with OCD are obsessed with cleanliness and order, while others may be hoarders , unable to get rid of anything. A common undercurrent of OCD is feeling plagued by doubt. Obsessive, doubting thoughts may lead someone with OCD to need constant reassurance that something is in its proper place or that an appliance is turned off.
Whereas a normal person may wonder if his or her car is locked, then remember that it is and move on, someone with OCD would be so wracked with doubt that even a return to the car or several would not allay his or her fears. This lack of certainty, especially with regards to the safety of oneself and others, is a common feature of OCD [source: New York Times].
Many people perform OCD-type rituals every day. Who hasn't gone back home to make sure that an appliance is off or reassembled items sitting on a desk to make them look more symmetrical?
But it's the obsessive, repeated and uncontrollable nature of these rituals that differentiates the OCD sufferer from a healthy person. These obsessive thoughts are also accompanied by extreme anxiety, which is then channeled into the ritual, itself seen as some sort of stress-management tool.
The obsessive thoughts of an OCD patient often go against personal, religious or societal ethics -- thoughts may be about harming others or engaging in other inappropriate actions. Some people with the disorder are obsessed with the idea that their actions or lack of action may harm others. The desire to tell some authority figure, such as a waiter at a restaurant, about the usually remote possibility of danger is called a reporting compulsion , and the consequences can be embarrassing.
Restaurants, in fact, with the numerous possibilities for acquiring germs or an accident occurring, are a nightmare for many people with OCD.
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